The
European Association for Gestalt Therapy (EAGT) was founded in 1985, with the
aim of gathering European individual Gestalt therapists, Training Institutes and
National Associations, of promoting Gestalt therapy in Europe, combining and
exchanging knowledge and resources, fostering a high professional standard for
Gestalt therapy and encouraging research. 200 members (mainly institutional but
also individual) from 20 European Nations are actually part of this community.

The
most traditional activity of the EAGT has been since the beginning the
organization, every three years, of the European Conference for Gestalt Therapy.

It’s
now a pleasure for me to welcome the 7th European Conference,
organized this time by Swedish colleagues of the Gestalt Akademi of Stockholm.
Having participated in all the previous ones, I can say that this Conference
stands out for novelty in the style of organization (which is characterized by
the spirit of a group) and for professionality, both at a scientifical level and
in organizational terms. As President of the EAGT, I like to express gratitude
and appreciation towards our Swedish colleagues (especially Barbro Curman) who
very generously dedicated themselves to the creation of this new Conference.

I
will now give you some news about the EAGT, in order to contextualize this
Conference, which is already well known all over the world.

The
EAGT functions through 3 main bodies, which are: the Executive Board (made of 5
members: the President, the Vice-president, the Treasurer, the Secretary, the
Public Relations Officer); the Extended Board (made of all the representatives
of National Associations); the Meeting of Members (which gathers at least every
year). Elections of the president and officers of the Board are held every 3
years.

The
main documents which regulates the EAGT are: the Statutes; the Training
Standards; the Code of Ethics. Special committees have been working in order to
create or keep up to date these documents.

The
activities of EAGT are now many. We can divide them into scientifical activities,
and bureaucratic or political activities.

The
main scientifical activity remains the European Conference of Gestalt Therapy,
which happens every three years and is organized every time by a different
institute or nation. The tradition of the first years was that the Conference
was organized in the country of the president. Since 1998, we have splitted the
duties of thepresident from the
organization of the Conference, since it had become too much work for the
president to accomplish both the various normal activities and the organization
of a big conference.

In
the year 2000 other scientifical activities have been added. The Conference of
G.t. Writers, for instance, which gathers a small group of writers, with the aim
of supporting and broadcasting writing in Europe, where often the multitude of
languages are an obstacle to the circulation of developments in theory and
practice. Other suggestions are now coming from members to organize special
meetings on supervision, for instance, or other specific themes; these meetings
are in process of realization. All these activities will also constitute a solid
ground for the traditional 3-yearly Conference.

Nancy Amendt-Lyon, the chair of the Extended
Board, is working to collect the bibliography of Gestalt therapy from every
countryand the details of training
programs of Institute members. This work will be the basis for the creation of
archives of European literature and training Institutes.

Finally,
a permanent conference (or network) ofGestalt
training Institutes leaders is going to be formed, with the aim of creating an
exchange of training programs and experiences, and build a common platform in
Europe which will help the circulation of students and, eventually, of teachers.

At a
political level, the EAGT is connected with the European Association for
Psychotherapy (EAP). The EAGT is in fact the
“European Wide Awarding Organization” and as such participates in
the award of the European Certificate of Psychotherapist. The EAGT will continue
to seek to support professional standards of its members all over Europe, where
very different social conditions are in act, and will in the near future create
a European Register of Gestalt practitioners.

Finally, a Newsletter,
edited by Lars Berg, is mailed to all EAGT members in
order to let them know the issues discussed in the three bodies of the
Association and let them participate as much actively as possible in it.

In order to give a sense of the variety of cultures, interests,
experiences shared during the Conference and of the climate, here are a few of
the many messages I received after the Conference. You will also find a remark
of mine, at the end. It’s part of my post-contact of this experience.Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb, Italy

Been over 10 months now since the 6th European conference of Gestalt
therapy in Palermo but the sights and sounds of that great event are so fresh
and vivid in my mind. Thank you so much for that wonderful chunk of learning,
relating, experiencing. Thanks for making it (us) happen. Studies in Gestalt
therapy No. 8 is a sort of memento/souvenir of that hugely successful event.Jose A. Iligan, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

When I think of you and the conference, I’m touched and grateful for what
you did. The parts that stay with me most are the artful ones, the beauty of the
printed materials, the charm of the staff and translators, the sun and the sea
and the storms, the cannonades, the food.Joel Latner, Pittsburg, USA

The conference was very impressive to me. I can only guess at how much work
you did to make it go so smoothly. I also want to thank you and your group for
your amazing generosity and hospitality. I came home laden with books, gifts and
happy memories. I especially liked the chance to meet my European colleagues and
get to know them on a personal basis. I found this enthusiasm for Gestalt
therapy refreshing and invigorating. I came home more energized and committed to
it.Elinor Greenberg, New York, USA

Let me say how much I appreciate all the work you put in to create the
conference. I’m also amazed at all the politics we are all involved in!Norman Friedman, Flushing, USA

It was great being a part of the international community on unfamiliar
ground — both in terms of being in Europe and in terms of really being able to
be a participant. I’m sure I don’t know all the problems you faced behind
the scenes, because from the outside, it seemed to go very smoothly. The whole
ambience was very warm and welcoming. It was a very enriching experience.Liv Eastrup, Santa Monica, USA

I would like to aknowledge you for an outstanding job at creating one of
the most stimulating and exciting conferences I have ever attended. You
Sicilians really know how to make guests feel at home.Ron Alexander, Santa Monica, USA

Nancy and I are back from our adventure in Italy following the EAGT
conference in Palermo, all of which was phenomenal and wonderful.Ansel Woldt, Kent, USA

I’ve just returned from the wonderful EAGT conference in Sicily, where I
renewed friendships, enjoyed the stimulation of Gestalt ideas, and experienced
anew my optimism about Gestalt therapy’s future influence on the field of
psychotherapy. No other approach has such a comprehensive and experience-near
theory or such powerful methods as gestalt does!Sylvia Crocker, Laramie, USA

This is both to thank you and to express my admiration for everything you
did — briefly: for being completely yourself — at the congress in Palermo.
There was so much excitement, goodwill and interest, I was positively amazed.Michael Tophoff, Limmen, Holland

I would like to express my admiration for the wonderful organization of the
EAGT conference. I think that you and your colleagues did an exceptional job
there. I know how difficult this can be, even more with so many different
languages, but everything was done so smoothly, in a colleagual spirit, and
everybody from the organizational team was so friendly and helpful that I cannot
recall a single unpleasant situation. Thanks to you and everybody who has
contributed to this marvellous result! My colleagues and I agree that this
conference was a very important and informative experience for us. We have
learnt a lot, had the opportunity to meet a lot of people with whom we had been
in contact only via e.mail before, came to know a lot of new interesting people
and to establish some meaningful contacts.Gerhard Stemberger, Vienna, Austria

I want to congratulate with you for the big success of the EAGT conference.
It was perfect! I’m very accustomed to international conferences (about 2 or 3
every year, since 30 years!) and I can assure you that it was one of the best in
all my life: very well organized, a balanced schedule, clear information, many
interesting panels and workshops, warm atmosphere, nice evenings, magnificient
area, etc.Serge Ginger, Paris, France

I would like to thank you for the glorious time we had in Palermo. The
conference will be of great support for the development of Gestalt therapy in
Macedonia.Biljana Koprova, Skopic, Macedonia

Compliments for the organization and the atmosphere you were able to
create. It made us all forget the labour that Gestalt therapy has been going
trough in Italy and, as I understand, all over.Riccardo Mancusi, Marco Tosello, Enrico Viggiano, Napoli, Italy

What a wonderful conference! I hope you are still hearing all the applause
and cheering for the wonderful job you did.
My husband and I enjoyed ourselves totally in your beautiful country and were
very stimulated by the conference.Penny Backman, Portland, USA

Personally, I’m all exhausted after so many rich and exciting experiences
from panels, workshops, minilectures and group process. But, in fact, mostly
from all that connected every event with the others - a true process of life
with plenty of room for unexpected encounters; outwards as well as within. I
will continue to chew my experiences for a long time.Lars Berg, Stockholm, Sweden

To stay with the unintrojectability of our theory gives us, Gestalt
therapists, a special spirit in the world of psychotherapies. We allow the
fertile caos to happen in our selves, and a dancing star always comes out from
that. Two things of the conference in Palermo move me in particular. One is the
memory of the children who were there, with a lot of space and acceptance from
the whole environment. When I was running from one place to the other, the
experience of seeing so many of our children perfectly included in the context,
although not disturbing the conference process, always moved me and gave me
strenght. It seemed to me like one of the best metaphors of the conference. The
other memory I cherish is the final choral moment of the conference, the song we
sang waving our linked hands, the final expression of the power that comes from
the ground, from the group process.Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb, Siracusa, Italy